Street Trees in Brooklyn. Image credit: thecityatlas.org
Trees are planted right into the backdrop of New York City. While there are only about 600,000 trees in the City, many of them occupy the sidewalks and streets in front of our homes. Given the dense population of the City, apartment buildings and houses are built right on top of each other. The trees planted on City streets and sidewalks need to be cared for otherwise, they can cause damage and problems for the surrounding residents and property owners. The Department of Parks and Recreation has procedures and guidelines for the care and maintenance of City trees. (read more…)
Interborough Rapid Transit Company Powerhouse at 855 11th Avenue in Manhattan. Image Credit: LPC.
To facilitate the continued use of the former Interborough Rapid Transit Company Powerhouse as Con Edison Steam plant, plan adopted to allow for rooftop mechanical equipment and the creation of entrances for installing equipment. On January 9, 2018, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (“Landmarks”) voted to approve a master plan presented by Consolidated Edison (“Con Edison”) for the recently designated Interborough Rapid Transit Company Powerhouse at 855 11th Avenue on Manhattan’s West Side. The block-sized Beaux-Arts building, with its exterior designed by Stanford White, was built under the influence of the City Beautiful movement, bringing classical grandeur to the civic experience. Built to provide electricity to the Interborough Rapid Transit’s subway system, the plant is now owned by Con Edison, which operates the building as a steam-generating plant. (read more…)
The Center for New York City Law cordially invites you to a CityLaw Breakfast
presenting
Errol Louis
Guest Speaker, Inside City Hall
With a special presentation to
Ross Sandler, ABA Section’s Lifetime Achievement Award
✱✱✱
3rd Annual Civic Fame Awards
The Center offers special recognition for:
Hon. David N. Dinkins, the 106th Mayor of the City of New York
Wayne G. Hawley, retiring deputy executive director and general counsel
of the Conflicts of Interest Board
Susan M. Hinkson ’98, retiring member of the
Board of Standards & Appeals
Con Edison, a founding sponsor of the CityLaw Breakfast Series
Inside City Hall, 25th Anniversary of NY1’s nightly political news and opinion program
✱✱✱
(read more…)
Tweed Courthouse. Image credit: CityLaw
New York City has a long and rich history of scandal and corruption. Here are three examples from favorite books that visit past scandals in complete and revealing detail.
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Ross Sandler
Every four hours around the clock, beginning Tuesday, October 30, 2012, workers from every part of Consolidated Edison’s territory reported to senior management on the status, needs and plans to restore service to Con Edison customers. The reports came in to Con Edison’s Emergency Response Center set up in the nineteenth floor auditorium at Con Edison’s headquarters at 4 Irving Place.
The first reports were sketchy assessments: what was happening and where. As the storm receded, the terrible numbers started to come in. Midland Beach in Staten Island and Gerritsen Beach in Brooklyn were devastated. A storm surge knocked out the East River steam plant, caused an explosion at Manhattan’s 13th Street transmission station, and flooded office towers on Water Street. Trees downed wires all over Westchester County, blocking roads and preventing crews from getting through. Brighton Beach was flooded. Con Edison’s Manhattan workout locations were under water, but Con Edison’s vehicles were safe; Con Edison had removed them to the high ground of Union Square 24 hours before the storm hit.
There was steady, intense professionalism in the Emergency Response Center as the reports kept arriving. A Con Edison worker returning home from a twelve hour shift was robbed at gun point. A mutual aid crew working on a 13,000 volt overhead line failed to follow safety rules; they were sent home to North Carolina. Site safety became a concern, so Con Edison sent trained office workers to downed wire sites in the field. A gasoline shortage threatened to prevent workers from getting to work sites; tankers of gasoline were ordered. A work camp sleeping mutual aid crews was set up at Citi Field in Queens. A hush came over the Response Center when a dog was reported to have been electrocuted by a downed wire.
Eleven days after the storm, the video display in the Response Center charted a constant increase in restorations of power. Con Edison crews had restored electricity to 1,012,316 of the 1,054,972 customers blacked out by Sandy and the following Northeaster.
The extraordinary professionalism, preparation and dedication shown by Con Edison’s executives and by the 14,000 workers in the field were reflected in the successful restoration work. Later there will be investigations and reviews of performance as there should be. In the meantime, as this is written, the hard, house-by-house restoration work continues in the field.
Ross Sandler
Ross Sandler
The Consolidated Edison lockout began on July 1, 2012. Despite summer heat and record electric demand, Con Edison’s supervisors and auxiliaries kept the City functioning. Computers operated, elevators carried people up and down, lights stayed on, and offices remained cool. Compared to the impact of the three-day transit strike of 2005, the City functioned without a hitch. Both management and the union deserve credit. Striking is one thing; stopping the flow of electricity, gas and steam to New York City is quite another.
Pension costs were behind the lockout. Pension expenses for Con Edison have risen tenfold. In 2006 pension costs were $76 million; in 2012 pension costs rose to $741 million. Con Edison needed the Utility Workers Union, Local 1-2, to accept a new pension plan for future new hires. Con Edison had already switched its managers to the new pension plan. Given the fierce emotions over pensions, Con Edison had to plan for a strike. The risk for Con Edison was fumbling a sudden handoff from 8,000 regular workers to 5,000 managers and auxiliary workers who would be deployed on short notice.
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